Recall effort against West Ada trustee dropped

An effort to recall West Ada School Board trustee Mike Vuittonet was suspended Friday just days before the backers faced a deadline Monday to submit a recall petition to the Ada County Elections office.

Daryl Sallaz, a former Boise School District teacher, who led the drive with two other armed services veterans, said Friday they won't pursue the recall following the trustees efforts to work together in hiring the district's new superintendent Mary Ann Ranells last month.

"We have seen the smooth transition to new superintendent Dr. Mary Ann Ranells," the veterans said in a statement. "We congratulate the board and Dr. Ranells for their ability to work together."

The statement did not say how many recall signatures the group had collected and Sallaz did not immediately return a phone call.

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The three said the were moved to suspend the recall effort after editorials in the Idaho Statesman supported trustees efforts to work together and an editorial in the Press-Tribune which questioned the need for a recall.

Sallaz was critical of Vuittonet over the approval of then-superintendent Linda Clark's one-year contract extension at a meeting of a previous board chaired by Vuittonet. The newly seated board, which took office on July 1, overturned the extension, saying it had been approved at a meeting that violated the state's open meeting law.

Vuittonet stands by the vote to extend Clark's salary.

Sallaz also is critical of what he calls Vuittonet’s big spending, although he did not provide specifics in a release distributed Friday morning.

The board's handling of Clark's contract touched off a recall against the other four board members – Russell Joki, Julie Madsen, Carol Sayles and Tina Dean . Vuittonet is working in support of that recall. Those petitions are due the elections office on Feb. 1.

In October, Clark stepped down in what she called a forced resignation.

In early November trustees rejected Clark's resignation and terminated her contract. Vuittonet opposed the board’s action.